We've been busy, busy, busy - after we decided we were definitely pursuing adoption, we bought Adoption for Dummies and have been passing it back and forth trying to learn EVERYTHING about this process that stymies us both. We also took the advice of a friend who has adopted three times and attended some agency information meetings. So far, it was the best advice we've gotten!

Our first info meeting was with an agency called Sunny Ridge in Wheaton (www.sunnyridge.org), which we attended on 8/1. We learned quite a few new things in the meeting; we heard from a birthmother, learned about their domestic and international programs and the fee schedules. We went in thinking that we would go with a domestic adoption and walked out thinking international. We liked Sunny Ridge for the most part, they were informative and nice, plus they are pretty close to us.

A week later (8/9) we went to an info meeting for The Cradle (www.cradle.org) By the time we were driving home, we were sold. We felt so comfortable with them, and we felt like the information was so in depth - the fees are all up front, the process is written out in black and white, and they brought in an adoptive family to talk to us and answer our questions. It was a wonderful experience, through and through...and, we changed our minds back to domestic adoption going through their Sayers Program. (http://www.cradle.org/adopt_aa.html)

We sent our application and fee in this week, and I've gotten started working on our profile and the "Dear Birthmother" letter - I am sure I'll have to do a few re-writes, but I'm so excited I can't wait! Today when I got home from work and checked my email, we had an email message from the Cradle with the name of our adoption counselor!!! Her name is Sue and she will be calling us soon to schedule our initial consultation!

We're going to start remodeling the nursery over Labor Day - we have a lot of work to do so we want to get started ASAP! By this time next year, we could be bringing home a brand new baby!